Little Wars 2018 pt1 (in progress)

Update on Little Wars 2018

     

     Here's an update on Little Wars 2018, from the early  morning hours of day 3. Registration was a breeze, we pre-registered, and got a nice goody bag!

A 15mm Tiger, a con die, 3 28mm figures, a 1/300 biplane, and a bottle of the new Badger primer!

 Thursday night we, my daughter and I, played in a game of Test of Honor with another couple.  The game is made by Warlord Games and is interesting.  You have hero types and troopies, which are based in groups of 3.   You get a round sabot base so you can remove the figures individually.  The really nice thing about the game was that it's got an intuitive dice mechanic and you only need the 1 reference sheet (1 sided) and your roster, which is just single line entries so that too should be less than a sheet.  The dice are like X-Wing dice in how they work.  They are 6-sided and have either an "X" (that's bad), 1 or 2 swords (that's good), or blank.  To succeed you need 3 swords in any combination with 5 swords being a critical result.  If you get more X than swords it's a fumble, which you can fumble on various portions (hit, damage, dodge, etc).  We understood the rules after a couple of turns and were able to play without much GM handholding.  A big thanks to GM Plosch (can't remember names, especially first ones) for putting on the game and showing us how to play.  I was foolishly mulling the idea of getting Samurai before I came down since I already have some other rulesets, but now I'm definitely  getting some here.

    Day 2 was our first full play day.  I ran my "Aliens in Siberia" game, which I don't have pics of!  I was worried about having enough players, set up, and keeping the game running smoothly to do it but I did see others taking photos so hopefully some of those surface on the interwebs.  Clare played in 2 sessions of Axis & Allies.  The GM had a custom vinyl map that was at least 6 feet in length.  It's an ongoing game through the Con so I took over from a previous player and had to do some changes to my forces.  Having a GM helped the game run smoothly (counting money, figuring out combats, etc).  I played in the second session.  The last game of the night was an X-Wing trench run game which Clare played in.  It was played on a 3d printed Deathstar surface with the trench handled by being lower and the upper sides supported by stands.  The rebels were able to get some Y-wings down in the trench and successfully launch torpedoes.  One side note: Lord Vader got whacked by his own turrets!  Some punishment cell time will be in order.  

     Last but not least I had to hit the vendor hall (2 rooms this year) and make a first strike on my buy list, all from Armorcast (one of my favorite terrain companies)

Decals!  No sloppy shield painting for me.

A Scotia ATAC apc that I've been looking at for years.  You'll be able to get Scotia stateside through Armorcast soon.

Some "can-topper" terrain for the sci-fi board.  You supply the soda can and Armorcast supplies the base and a topper to make it less "can like".

     We've been dining at Harry Caray's Steakhouse here at the Westin and as usual it was excellent!  We had burgers Thursday night, you get to build your own or have Harry's burger (which is what I had).  On the second night it was a burger for Clare and I had Cavatappi with Italian Sausage, very good.  They aren't the cheapest place to eat, there's a McDs nearby but for ease of getting to and the menu options we like to dine there when we're down here.  The waitstaff was great, attentive and cheerful.  

    One last set of pics.  Someone put on a HUGE Lord of the Rings game and we got some pics before it started.  I'm sure it too will be on the web in photos.

Little Wars 2018

Little Wars 2018

     Little Wars 2018 is here and I'm running a game again this year.  This year's game is kaiju fighting again but with alien interference.  The sides will be the humans and the "good" kaiju against the aliens and their offworldly alien pals.  To do this I had to build a mothership to lead the invaders along with some objectives.  Here's the final mothership in all it's glory.  The stand is a dowel in a small trophy stand from Michael's, weighted down with large washers.  It's removable for transport.  I thought about lights for it but it would have added time that I really didn't have.

Here's the creation of the sauser.  It was created from a bundt cake container and a noodle container, topped with a spray can top.  

 I gathered a bunch of stuff from the bits box and started testing what might fit and what did I have enough of.

 To keep the ship from being too flexible I filled it with chunks of styrofoam that were hot glued together.

 On the bottom of the saucer I glued some wooden cones I got from Michael's.   In the center I had a spare nozzle from a rocket kit and I drilled a hole through it to mount it. 

     For the aliens I made a "mystery orb" that radiates some strange energy, which also happens to allow trees to grow very large....  

  It's a POM bottle cut down and glued to an mdf base.  I got my craft skills going and added tissue paper, red and blue glitter, and some craft store rocks.  What isn't visible is that the bottom of the orb is hollow and that allows me to put in 4 battery operated tea lights which add a nice glow.  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the effect works and inspires others to try their hand at creating items for their games.   

Another painting challenge

A Spring Painting Challenge:

     We had another painting challenge, this time from March 15 to April 15.  I managed to squeak out some items but I also had to put time to a Little Wars convention game that I am running.  It required painting, modelling, and getting the regular game admin stuff done.  Let's see what I was able to complete.  First up are some 1/300 planes, mostly for "Check Your 6!".  I finished a Betty, 2 Vals, and 6 Hamps.  The green foam is something I'm playing with to make a decent plane transportation method.

The Russian Village Kickstarter came in so I had to start moving on some of the terrain pieces I have sitting around.  First up i sone of the Russian houses.  The roof was done using the towel method.  Underneath is the kit supplied roof.  

 This is the Russian blacksmith building.  I haven't painted the accessories that go with this but they'll definitely add character to the base.

 A Hudson & Allen dark age house.  This is a one-piece, lightweight resin casting (like the Blue Moon buildings).  It has nice detail and paints up quickly.

 Here's another Russian village building.  The same roofing was done.  The buildings have nice detail and they go together well.  I went with blue accents to help ID the building, "I'm shooting at the blue building."

 This is a Gamecraft minis compound in 28mm.  The changes I made were to make the roof sections removable by placing corner reinforcements underneath, trimming off the glue tabs, and filling the slots in the walls.  If the kit is built as plannned it will be a really solid piece but you wont be able to access the interiors.  I also made doors, which aren't included, but it wasn't a big deal.  The walls were textured with non-skid paint and then drybrushed.  I feel it gives a nice texture but not a heavy stucco look.